New Ulm weekly review., 1887-03-09
Wednesday, March 9, 1887.

Wednesday, March 9, 1887.
Two weeks ago the REVIEW stated
that the .'woodchuck'' in Senator
Goodrich's bill for the collection of
back taxes on certain railroad lands sit
uated in Brown, Redwood and Cotton
wood counties, had been killed in the
senate. We did not have copy of the
bill before us at the time, and relied
for information upon the statements
made in the senate chamber and pub
lished in the st. Paul and Minneapolis
dailies. We have since received copy
of the original bill as introduced by Mr..
Goodrich, and have failed to discover
in it the slightest traces of a burrowing
rodent. The bill provides, not only for
the collection of back taxes undeniably
due on property actually assessed, but
also for the collection of so-called
.'back taxes'' on lands that have hither-
to in some way or other escaped assess.
ment and taxation. One must be in
blissful ignorance of the ways of the
world who believes that railroad COM
panies have such tender regard for the
public good as to submit without
struggle to such demands, however
just these may be. We do not have
such an exalted opinion of the omnipo-
tence of even the best-framed legisla.
tive enactments as to entertain any
hopes that after the passage of Mr..
Goodrich's bill the counties in question
can directly lay their hands upon the
sums declared by .'the law'' to be due
as ''back taxes'' on property to be as
sessed in the future. The probability
is that the companies will fight such a
MEASURE with all the legal talent in
their service. In this case the counties
must be prepared to meet them in the
conrts. The contested clause of the
bill authorized the three counties to in
cur expenses connected with the collec-
ton of these peculiar back taxes. We
believe that without this provision there
would have been no legal objection to
the counties incurring such expense;
but in this case the State would have
demanded its share of the taxes collect
ed intact, and all additional clerical
work and the like would have been
paid for out of the county treasures
alone. The assertion made in the
course of the senate debate that the
collection of taxes was already provided
for, was very neat in its way; but it
was made in the interest of the State at
large, and meant that the counties, hay
ing failed to assess and tax certain
lands, should alone bear the expense of
collecting ''back taxes thereon, while the
States share should 90 to the State treas
ury intact If this were correct in prin-
ciple, the bill introduced by Mr.. Goodrich
should have been voted down and q sub.
stitute should have been passed simply
compelling counties to indemnify the
State. or rather the taxpayers of the
State, for losses incurred by the failure o1
such counties to place all taxable prop
erty on the tax list: A bill of this kind
however, would have called forth 5
great deal more righteous Indignation
than was atloat in the senate chamber
when Mr.. Goodrich's bill was discussed
Had Mr.. Goodrich taken the trouble t.
inform himself concerning the intent O
the various provisions of the bill he in
troduced, he could have prevented :
great deal of superfluous talk and mis-
understanding on the subject. 1t seems
that there was not a member OF tht
senate who understood the bill beyond
the object declared in its title,-th,
collection of back taxes from railroad
companies. The senate subsequently,
saw the error of its ways and declared
in favor of the last section with sucl
notifications as will, if we are right,
informed, render the same equivalen
to the original and in addition theret,
it authorizes the county commissioners
to employ and pay council to assist th,
County attorney on which point tn,
original bill was silent.
1t is said that j. B. Parkes, a Ken
tucky farmer, has trained seven larg,
monkeys sent him by his brother, VIII,
resides in South Africa, to work in hi
hemp fields and to break and prepare